#Does_the_Sun_Suffer_if_the_Bat_is_Envious?
They say a word is worth a fortune, but nowadays it's as cheap as dirt.
Listen, brother,
Does it even matter what we say anymore?...
After all, what actually happens when a few thousand people jump and shout at Maitighar Mandala or in front of Ramshahpath? Former Maoist leader Agni Sapkota has become the new Speaker of Republican Nepal.
It was my wish, too, that the outgoing Deputy Speaker Shivamaya Tumbahangphe should become the Speaker. Some even questioned me: "For someone who calls himself a Congress worker, what does it matter which NCP leader becomes Speaker?" But my soft spot for Tumbahangphe wasn't just because she comes from a marginalized community—it was because she is a woman, she is experienced and capable, and frankly, for the sake of the dignity of the Constitution and the constitutional process.
But my humble desire was ignored, much like the "cold felt by a dog or the hunger of a guest"—unnoticed and unaddressed.
"A murderer as the priest in the temple of democracy," "Agni Sapkota to be sent to jail in a few days"—headlines like these are scattered everywhere. Good grief! Why can't people understand that during the height of the Maoist movement, Agni Sapkota wasn't just an individual; he was a symptom of a trend? It’s natural for us to wish that such trends never repeat. But those who didn't utter a peep about making Shivamaya Tumbahangphe the Speaker are now losing sleep because Sapkota is in the chair. What is this? In my view, this is just venom being spewed against the changes brought by the 2006 movement and the new Constitution; it’s the lingering hangover of a failed and rejected system—a bitter dissatisfaction with progress.
Who didn't lose life or property during the Maoist movement? Those who suffered, bore the brunt. I personally lost two very close relatives. My younger brother (my uncle’s son), Gyan Bahadur Tawa, was shot like a bird by the Royal Nepal Army while he was perched in a Bhurla tree, simply because he was a local ‘People's Government’ chief. My maternal uncle, Nar Prasad Lingden, was martyred by the Maoists because he was a Congress leader. Yet, neither I nor my family carry the bitter hangover of the Royal Army’s actions, nor do we go around attacking former Maoist leaders like Mr. Jabegu in Panchthar.
Revolution is always born from the womb of history; leaders are created by the demands of the time. The theory of historical dialectical materialism says the same. Even if the October Revolution hadn't happened in Russia at that time, some other revolution would have; if that revolution hadn't given birth to Lenin, it would have produced someone else. Even if Hitler or Gandhi hadn't been born, others would have emerged to lead the Second World War or the Indian Independence struggle. Similarly, if there had been no Maoist movement in Nepal, there would have been another. The characters and circumstances might have been different, but the context would remain the same. Therefore, what Agni Sapkota did as an individual in the past is secondary. If that period of history could be scraped away with a knife, I would have done it myself.
Aren't those who see Agni Sapkota only as a murderer looking through a distorted lens? I ask myself: those who want to see Sapkota in jail 'worship' KP Oli (a figure from the Jhapa/Sukhani uprising); those who celebrated Resham Chaudhary’s imprisonment are the same who sat quietly when Bal Krishna Dhungel was freed. If we send Sapkota to jail, do we send Prachanda too? If we send Prachanda, why not Upendra Yadav? If we send Yadav, why not Oli? Does anyone have a satisfying answer?
I feel that those running to Ramshahpath accusing Agni Sapkota of murder are mostly engaging in high-level nonsense. They are wasting the court's time and resources. They didn't imprison Surya Bahadur Thapa for the Chhintang massacre, they didn't catch the suppressors of the 1990 movement, they won't do anything to Prachanda (who took responsibility for 5,000 deaths), nor will they speak against the "State" which, in Prachanda's own words, is responsible for 12,000 deaths.
In the end, those who complain that "Saints starve while rogues eat cream"—how do they see Sapkota as a rogue but failed to see Tumbahangphe as a saint? It’s beyond understanding. Which political revolution in Nepal has ever been non-violent?
Just because someone doesn't like a person doesn't mean they won't reach a leadership position. Like many in the world, I don't particularly like Donald Trump, but he became the 45th President of the USA. In Hong Kong, from Tung Chee-hwa in 1997 to Carrie Lam today, every Chief Executive has taken office by essentially holding the freedom of 8 million people hostage and bowing to Beijing. I never liked them. From Margaret Thatcher to David Cameron and Boris Johnson—leaders who view everything through the lens of neoliberalism—I haven't liked them, but they became Prime Ministers of the UK.
Even in the context of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli is a leader I never took a liking to. I probably made many vows to Goddess Pathibhara that anyone—A, B, or Z—from the NCP should become PM instead of him. While I highly respect his contribution to toppling the Panchayat system and the jail time he served, the PM’s tendency to view every socio-cultural disparity only through a class lens meant he didn't have much of a place in my heart. Last year, there was a long queue to see PM Oli at Kensington Palace Gardens; I didn't go. But really, what harm does the sun suffer if a bat is envious of it?
Therefore, it is not right to curse the morning because you remember the night. Work in the present cannot be done solely by dwelling on the past. After the House of Representatives was held hostage for nearly four months, the country has a new Speaker. I don't think this is the time for cursing, crying, or screaming.
My heartiest congratulations and best wishes to the newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Agni Sapkota. Please listen to the voices of the opposition as well.
It’s raining quite heavily here in London; I wonder how it is out there. Travel safely.